Print Busines

 Went to the Studio today to take care of some business, sort of.  Back in December I sent Tom, organizer of this Robert Johnson project, images of the 3 prints I had done.  I sent the three images of the final versions in one email, and the longer version of one in a second email.  Wasn't my plan, just an accident I sent the 3 without the long one. He sent a reply to the second email, just saying he liked what I sent and the project was definitely on, and he will want a 300 DPI photo when the time comes. Haven't heard anything since.  

I am not really sure at this point what he wants and likes.  The email he replied to has an image of the wrong size, while the correctly sized print in the first email.  Bigger concern for me is that he asked for a 600 DPI photo in our initial phone conversation, and then a 300 DPI image in the email.  Problem is that DPI is not a measurement for digital photos, but for printed images on a computer.  DPI stands for dots per inch, and relate to everything from dot matrix printers to laser printers, but has nothing to do with cameras.  Digital photos can sometimes be measured in PPI, which stands for pixels per inch, but my camera (a name brand) has no settings for PPI, just sizes of prints.  The instruction book has nothing for either measurement either.  

Then I got another email today for an art show (sent to my website mail) that wants digital images of either a minimum file size or a minimum DPI, that measurement that doesn't actually exist for digital images.  I am not going to enter that show (for one thing I am not of the ethnicity required for it), but maybe that pair of minimums will help me.  

So what I did today was go up to my Studio, where the best proofs of those prints are, and set my digital camera to its largest size setting.  I tacked each of the Johnson woodcuts to the tack board on the wall, and took new large photos of each print.  (in a way, this is what I did with my old camera for the jigsaw puzzle images, one of which can be seen at the top of this post- same brand of camera, same largest size I assume, and of course, no DPI nonsense)  Using my wall mounted board, a little closer to eye level, so a little easier to make sure of a properly rectangular photo.  Brought that camera home, downloaded those new photos, edited them, and sent them to myself.  It's the only way I have these days to see the file size, attaching them to emails.  The good news is that these photos from today are much larger in file size than the last images I shot of these proofs, and larger than that minimum file size asked for in that exhibition email, so I guess they are big enough.

Of course I have also offered to ship the print(s) to Tom or the studio making relief plates from the actual prints, and let them scan them any way they want, but until I know what image(s) are wanted, I'm not sending anything.  Meanwhile, I have done another required step for this process, so I am ready for whatever happens.

Mardi Gras is here

 Today is Fat Tuesday, also known under the French name of Mardi Gras.  (in England they call it Shrove Tuesday and eat pancakes, but I don't go for that)   And in some places they have Carnivale, a longer party.  Either way, it's the day before Lent begins, and the idea is to party while you can, as the next day begins 40 days of deprivation.  I tend to go with the New Orleans approach, and that means traditional dishes from that area, as well as appropriate music and drinking.  Once upon a time this was French owned territory, so the Mardi Gras name has stuck.

Back in Sunday I cooked a batch of jambalaya, enough for a few days, and I've been enjoying it.  However, today is the true day for it, so this evening I had a brimming bowl of the stuff (see the above photo), a spicy rice dish (thus the write up here at Studio Arrabbiata) with andouille sausage, chicken, shrimp (crawfish don't appear in local supermarkets, close enough), an assortment of vegetables, and lots of spices.  Very tasty.  I used my last beer on Sunday, so on my way home from speech therapy, I stopped at a liquor store and picked up a six pack.  All beer costs a lot more than it did years ago, so I sprung for the extra buck to get the Anchor Steam Beer, a part of good times visiting a college friend decades ago.  (sure there was a war on, riots, burning police cars, people rounded up by the hundreds, and with the electric overheard wire buses, no way to know if the buses would even be running when it was time to go home, but it was a fun week)  

Of course there was music.  Proper for this would be some cajun and/or zydeco, and the 8 years I did a blues radio show meant that I knew the genre well and had some good stuff in my collection, but that collection is still in storage.  But everything is online if you know what to call it and where to look for it.  So I had Beau Jocques and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers, Dewey Balfa and the Balfa Brothers, and Rosie Ledet.  

The food, the beer, and the music got me through the day.  Lent begins tomorrow.

I also gave some thought to my next print.  Haven't done anything since I finished the third Robert Johnson print and took a proof of my last supermarket print.  I have no control over what happens with the former project, so I can't do anything more yet.  The plans for a JSAC print room are progressing, but I have nothing more to do with that, so what remains is doing a new print.   Don't have any specific ideas yet, but one will come to me eventually.

Jambalaya Day

 

As I have stated many times before, here at Studio Arrabbiata we do respect all those holidays that call for spicy food, and one of those is Mardi Gras, as for me it's my annual excuse to make some jambalaya.  There is no one specified recipe for the dish, so it can be as spicy as I wish, but I like it that way, so I included plenty of cayenne in it.  (not as much as the infamous Italian House chili, but that's a whole big story in itself)  I had spices left over from the one I made last year, as well as rice, and everything else I had bought in the last week or so, so I was prepared.  Sunday is my best day to cook things, so I started by prepping vegetables and defrosting things in the early afternoon, then did all the cooking and assembling earlier today.  The way I make it, it's enough for at least 3 meals, so I do it on Sunday so I'll have some to eat on Tuesday, after which comes Lent and a bunch of days where I can't eat meat.  (Today's included chicken, andouille sausage, shrimp, celery, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and all the other things you might expect.)  

At the top of this post is a photo of this year's batch.  (it's good to have a camera again)   Most if it got packed up in the fridge, where it will be 2 or 3 meals on days I can eat meat this week.  Meanwhile, I helped myself to a large bowl of it tonight, along with the last cold beer I had (so I'll need to stop and get some more tomorrow on my way home), and some nice zydeco music playing on my computer, since I don't have my main music collection right now.  All just a preview of what will happen on Tuesday.  I look forward to that.

Ocean Grove Reconnaissance

Sometimes I go up to the Studio to do some artwork.  Sometimes I just go there to find out information. Today was more the latter.

Had nothing to do this morning, so I went up to Ocean Grove to learn a few things.  Luckily there were some people there in the office.  The big thing was I wanted to know about Elyse's meeting with Mary regarding print equipment.  Elyse said it went well.  She did talk to Mary, finds her a very nice person, and is sure she's taking the press from her.  (had nice things to say about prints of mine she saw at Mary's house)  Not sure about the sink, but feels she's likely to take it, along with the frame I built for it.  And at this point, she feels it will all likely go into the utility room.   She not sure about the sink yet as it's not the same as the utility sink that is currently there, but maybe after she knows what it is for.  (I think of it as a paper soaking sink, which doesn't really have anything to do with woodcut, more an intaglio thing) That room will need to be cleaned out first, and I think the lights will need some work, so who knows when all this will happen?  But this step is now done.  On the other hand, she wasn't exactly sure where the broken window was downstairs.  I didn't see one on my inspection of the basement, but I didn't go through any locked doors.  Kaitlyn chimed in that it was adjacent to the gated door on that side, but I didn't know where that was from inside, and the kitchen was completely blocked off, so I couldn't go in there.  I'm told it's a double window, and there is no evidence that the inner one was broken, so it looks like no one came in through it.

We talked a little about the upcoming fire inspection, and how Molly was responsible for most of the stuff that blocked a lot of our windows, a big concern when my old apartment was inspected for fires.  The two doors to our space don't really count as they are inside the building.  On the other hand, I was told not to worry too much, as they will accompany the person who does the inspection.  There is some concern about Molly and the contract, but that is out of my hands.  

Not all taking on my part.  I did end up telling Elyse about jambalaya, and she was very intrigued.  Looked it up online and realized it was not hard to make and includes things she likes.  Maybe the next time I see her, she will have tried it herself.  I'll probably make mine on Sunday, so I can enjoy it through Fat Tuesday.  I'll probably put something here.

More news from Ocean Grove

 I decided to go out today, and one of my stops was in Ocean Grove, at the JSAC.  The person in charge of classes wasn't there, so I couldn't ask about that, but I did talk to the boss a bit about the upcoming Tenants show.  Actually part of what I did was give her the postcard from the last show, since I have a big stack of them in my car.  It has my name on it, which is always good.  As I told her, I don't know if postcards are a good idea.  On one hand, they are very useful for promoting things, with all the information that we want to put out.  On the other hand, kids have no interest in them, since they can't put them on their cell phones, and have no interest in anything printed on paper.  She hasn't started making them yet, so it's her problem, not mine.  One thing she did mention was that she has a meeting early next week with Mary Lane, about the donation of print equipment and a classroom dedicated to printmaking.  That's good.  Elyse liked the idea of some kind of new sink, as the old slop sink in that room is looking, well, old.  I know Mary has one, as she had me build something to hold it once, but some plumbing would be required, so it was never installed.  Here's what I made:

And once there is a place to teach printmaking, maybe that means we finally get a class in woodcut on the schedule.  That room still needs to be cleaned out, but that's her problem, not mine.  She also mentioned a broken window on the east side of the building, reported by the police.  Not where my studio is, so I am not part of it.  However, I do remember back when Molly rented the corner room on that side of the building for the table project, and I once went into that room only to be hit with a blast of cold air.   Found a broken window.  At the time I blamed it on the cold and wind that had been around then, and I may have been right.  All I know is we had Herb repair the window.  (this was back in 2013, if you want to see it for yourself)

But even before my office visit, I had stopped across the street after I parked in out lot.  On one of the talk shows this morning I had heard that today was national pizza day.   I have no idea what that means, but I felt obligated to get myself a slice to bring home for lunch.  I knew there was a decent place across the street (I've gotten slices for lunch on occasion), and I knew that they get a lot of business around the noon hour, so I went there first.  Got a slice with eggplant and ricotta, put it in my car.  Heated it up and ate it at home for lunch.  Here's what it looked like:

Yes, it was very tasty, just as I expected.  Essentially eggplant rollatini, unrolled and place on a standard cheese pizza.  Fairly common around here, but rarely found in other areas of the country.  I guess that's why people visit me.

The Return of the Open Studio and Resident Art Show

 

After a lot of back and forth via email, it was decided to hold the organizational meeting today for the latest open studio event for our building in Ocean Grove.  My only concern was that today I was also scheduled to get a call back from my legal help, which would bring information regarding my medical insurance for the future.  But I had no idea what time that would be.  Simple solution- got up extra early, took care of everything early, so I would have no problem answering the phone, whenever I got a call.  

Luckily the expected call came in at 10:00 am (or 9 am central, which is where they were calling from.) I was provided with some useful information, and will hear from them again in a week, which should give me time to find out a few things for myself.  And it meant no problem attending my meeting in Ocean Grove in the afternoon.  

I got up there a little early and took care of some studio business.   That is, I changed the very full garbage bag in our can, as I had noticed it was more then full, and today I remembered to bring a bag with me.  Took the bag to the very full dumpsters, barely got it in, so those need to be emptied.  And with that I probably accomplished more than we got done in our planned meeting.

About 10 people were there, including myself and the organizer, with a representative from the building, our director.  A date was chosen for the open studio event, but we still don't know if we can use that day, as there may be a play going on.  (that will be looked into soon)  Those present asked a lot of questions about publicity, postcards, and flyers, all of which are mostly irrelevant these days, especially to the crowd they are trying to draw.  I could barely get a word in.  Also debates about how long it should run- one or two days.  (most favored one day, which is better for me) But that topic had to end, because we had to get to the resident show. Unfortunately nothing was decided about that either.  We have a vague idea when the show might be (fall), but there are still discussions about hanging systems (current system has problems, but all other ones do as well), building security, plus the same publicity issues that came up with the open studio idea.  

Basically they know I am interested in each one, so I guess it wasn't a waste of time.  There's time to work out the issues with each one, and that is not my job.  I chose not to bring my camera today, and I don't have photos from the last one as I didn't have a camera then, so you'll have to just read the words.

Update- Because of a play that has already reserved the theater for the day we had first planned to have our open studio, the date now chosen is Saturday, April 22, 2023, from noon to 5 pm.  When I figure out what, if anything, I am doing that day, I'll announce it here.